Car-coupling



N0. 623,2. Patented Apr, I8, I899.

' G. C. HARLIN.

UNITE v GEORGE O. HARLIN, OF STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 623,211, dated April 18, 1899.

Application filed December 2, 1898. Serial No. 698,079. (No model.)

T0 (tZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE C. HARLIN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Stockton,'in the county of San Joaquin and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Car- Couplers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in car-couplers, and particularly to that class known as automatic couplers; and the object of the invention is to produce an arrowhead coupler which is automatically coupled, and it consists in the provision of novel means whereby the parts are held in operative position against accidental displacement and whereby they (the said parts) may be released and swung out of operative position, that the cars may be uncoupled.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in combination with the arrow-head coupler, a novel arrangement whereby the vertical-hook coupler may be swung into and out of operative position when necessary for the purposes of the exchange of cars from road to road. Thus by my invention I acquire the direct pull of the arrow-head type under all possible conditions,while when it is impossible to employ the arrow-head type the vertical-hook coupleris speedily adjusted for use.

A further object of the invention is 'to provide means for guiding the parts into contact and making the parts strong, durable, and efficient, while at the same time they are comparatively inexpensive.

With the above and other objects in view.

the invention consists in the details of construction and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

In describing the invention in detail reference will be had to the accompanying drawings,formin g part of thisspecification,wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the several views, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view looking at the bottom of my improved coupler applied to a car, with the parts broken away in places. Fig. 2 is a top plan view showing the mechanism which protrudes beyond the end of the car.

for supporting the draw-bar and allowing a swinging movement thereto. The draw-bar protrudes through the follower-plates and is encircled by the usual spring 3 for absorbing the jar, &c. A sleeve at is formed with the front follower-plate and is provided with a depending portion 5, having an aperture to receive a bolt 6, which is spring-pressed and arranged in a housing 7 of the draw-head extension 8, said draw-head extension encircling the draw-bar. Arranged on the draw-head extension is a lug 9, which is adapted to abut shoulders 10, formed by cutting away the edge of the sleeve, for the purpose of limiting the rotation of the coupling-head.

The bolt 6 is withdrawn from engagement with the sleeve by the flexible connections 11, operating through a guide 12 on the drawhead extension and over the sheave-pulleys 13 on the transverse shaft 14, which shaft is so arranged as to be manipulated from the side of the car when it is desired to arrange the parts in operative or inoperative position,

it being necessary to rotate the said shaft in opposite directions to accomplish the two results, it being understood that when the coupler is locked in its operative position by the bolt the rotation of the shaft will exert a pull on the flexible connection and that such pull will first withdraw the bolt from its engagement and when said bolt has reached its farthest backward limit further effort would be directed to the rotation of the coupling-head.

In conjunction with the mechanism just described I have provided a vertical-hook coupler which may be also used as alink-andpin attachment, and in this arrangement I have an extension at, with a rounded inner surface Z), acting as a guide for the coupler of the opposite car, that the said coupler of the opposite car may be directed into operative IOO a suitable internal shoulder d, against which a spring e abut-s to provide a yielding connection for absorbing the jar, &5C. The mouth of the sleeve or socket has a flange f extending part way therearound, said flange having angular corners against which a lug g of the d raw-bar h comes to limit the rotation of said draw-bar when thrown into or out of. operative position, the coupling-head being held in either of said positions by gravity. The draw-bar h is curved at approximately rightangles as it protrudes from the sleeve and terminates in a d raw-head i, which draw-head, with the guide, (heretofore described,) will aiford an interlocking connection with the vertical-hook couplers now in use.

The draw-bar 7b is rotated by means of the beveled gear-wheels A and B, the former on the draw-bar and the latter on a vertical shaft C, which takes motion from the shaft 14 through the worm-gear D.

\Vhen the link-and-pin connection is desired, the pin may be inserted in the aperture 1" of the draw-head 1'.

From the foregoing it will be seen that both forms are readily arranged for engagement and that one will not interfere with the other, although, as is well known, the vertical-hook coupler does not have a-central d raft. Hence the pull is off center, and as it is necessaryat times to exert a force of live thousand or six thousand pounds to effect a coupling of the couplers with vertical hooks the result is a lateral force which causes great wear on the rails and car-wheels, and the road-bed itself is weakened by the jar incident to the operalion of this class of couplers. Hence it is my object to use the arrow-head couplers whenever they can be substituted.

It will be noted in view of the foregoing that changes in the proportions and other details of construction may be resorted to, and yet the spirit of my inventionwill not be departed from.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a coupling, a draw-bar, a sleeve thereon having an apertured flange, a housing on the extension of the draw-bar,a spring-pressed pin in the housing adapted to be seated in the apertures ofthe flange, means for limiting the rotation of the draw-bar and arresting the parts when the pin registers with one of the apertures, a flexible connection secured to the end of the pin, and means for withdrawing the pin and rotating the draw-head at a single operation, substantially as described.

2. In a coupling, a draw-bar, a sleeve thereon having an apertured flange, a housing on the extension of the d raw-bar,a spring-pressed pin in the housing adapted to be-seated in the apertures of the flange, means for limiting the rotation of the draw-bar and arresting the parts when the pin registers with one of the apertures, a flexible con nection secured to the end of the pin, a shaft, a sheave-pulley for attachment with the flexible connection, substantially as described.

3. In a coupling, a draw-bar, a sleeve thereon having an apertured flange, a housing on the extension of the draw-bar,a spring-pressed pin in the housing adapted to be seated in the apertures of the flange, means for limiting the rotation of the draw-bar and arresting the parts when the pin registers with one of the apertures, a flexible connection secured to the end of the pin, a shaft, a sheave-pulley for attachmentwith the flexible connection, a guide'on the extension through which the flexible-connections operate, substantially as described.

4. In a coupler, an arrowhead coupler adapted to operate automatically, and a vertical-hook coupler adapted to be rotated into and out of vertical alinement with the arrowhead coupler, substantially as described.

5. In a coupler a guide having a rounded inner edge, a sleeve formed with the body of the guide, a draw-bar arranged in the sleeve and having its protruding end bent at approximately right angles and terminating in a draw-head said draw-head acting in conjunction with the guide and arranged to partially rotate, substantially as described.

6. In combination with a body having a socket and an extension forming a guide, a coupler-head adapted to be rotated into and out of operative position with relation to the guide, and an arrow-head coupler arranged below the first-named coupler and adapted to rest on a lower plane when out of operative position than it occupies when in operative position, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE O. IIARLIN; I/Vitnesses:

A. G. Sroxns, ALIDA M. HENoH. 

